It's personal I kow but....Heco & Klipsh would kill de Jadis (certenly with the sound I think Alex is afther) I had a pair of RF82 at home for a few weeks 3 I think... I returned them because the only thing you get is rubish boom no music....at least that was my expirience

Maybe the higher range is better (actualy I heard a pair of floordtanders once who impresed me in a HI FI show bud couln't listen for long...

I drive 84db and 4 ohm speakers with a tubeamp. A good designed tube amp can drive almost any load. It is more a matter of a good design ( output transformers ) than the amount of Watts it delivers. Your Jadis should have the ability to do so.

One tiny little problem that I find with all these "easy to drive speakers" are the looks, and size. They sure don't look very modern, to say least. Still, I personally kind of like the good old Harbeth looks (without the grille preferably) but it might not just suit a modern black n white home. Currently, I have got two pair of speakers. The first one, Dynaudio Focus 160, are very hard to drive, especially for a tube amp, but they make poor sounding good ol' rock n roll sound terrific, big, full and nice sounding. For more modern music, I use a pair of finish speakers, the beautiful Amphion Argon 2 anniversary. They are also supposed to never dip below 7 ohms. That's my recommendation. These are bookshelf speakers, floor standers might be easier to drive.

Yes...I definitely agree with you on this one!!! A lot of good suggestion here...but if we have also to match design is not such a long list. Most of the speakers which are supposed to be tube-friendly are not that nice to see...and for me (my gf mainly) this is a very important aspect of the "game". She doesn't mind how many amplifiers/hi-tech stuff I bring inside the house...but everything has to look nice... :shifty:

Ah, btw this is going to be my official thread on speakers hunting...which basically started today!

Went with Rob to listen to the Kef ref 205/2 and, by chance, we had a good listen to the Cabasse Pacific SA3, huge glossy black speakers (the Kef 205/2 looked small compared to them) which are supposed to be 8 ohm speakers (dropping to 4 as a min impedance) with 91.5db sensitivity....and wow!!!

....we had a good listen to the Cabasse Pacific SA3, huge glossy black speakers (the Kef 205/2 looked small compared to them) which are supposed to be 8 ohm speakers (dropping to 4 as a min impedance) with 91.5db sensitivity....and wow!!!

I assume it was these rather interesting beasties: http://www.whathifi.com/blog/cabasse-pacific-3-launch-in-paris

"We should no more let numbers define audio quality than we should let chemical analysis be the arbiter of fine wines." Nelson Pass

....we had a good listen to the Cabasse Pacific SA3, huge glossy black speakers (the Kef 205/2 looked small compared to them) which are supposed to be 8 ohm speakers (dropping to 4 as a min impedance) with 91.5db sensitivity....and wow!!!

I assume it was these rather interesting beasties: http://www.whathifi.com/blog/cabasse-pacific-3-launch-in-paris

It actually was very very interesting. Not very long listening session as Roby came late :roll: and the guy had another demo after.

We had opportunity to have a back to back comparison between kef ref and cabasse...and to our surprise the cabasse was better almost every time. Cabasse is a semi active with bass compartment driven by a dedicated 450w amplifier. The cabasse was more room filling and had a more upfront presentation without becoming too bright or fatiguing. Both are very transparent speakers with the cabasse being slightly faster then the kef. Amplifier was a plinths sa103 and audio lab as cd player.

The size of the cabasse might be the downside as I think these speakers really need bigger space to offer their full potential.

We decided to come back one day with our respective amplifiers to see how both these speakers will perform in a longer listening session. The hunt is starting...the update will probably be happening beginning of 2013...will be fun!

Arthur Salvatore's excellent website has a list of speakers suitable for low powered SET amplifiers:

Quote:

AcuHorn rosso superiore175

Affirm (formerly Maxxhorn) Lumination & Immersion

Apogee Acoustics Definitive Ribbon Speaker (very expensive)

Aspara Acoustics HL1 Horn Speaker

Audio Note ANE SEC Signature

Avantgarde Duo and Trio (All Versions)

BD-Design Oris and Orphean Models

Bottlehead Straight 8s (Discontinued)

Brentworth Sound Lab

Cain & Cain BEN ES (and other models)

Coincident (Total) Victory II (and most of their other models)

Decware (Various Models)

(DIY Hi-Fi Supply) Crescendo Ribbon Horn Speaker System

Fab Audio Model 1 (Toronto, Canada)

FAL Supreme-C90 EXW or EXII

Goodmans of England 5 or 612s

Horn Shoppe (Two Models)

Horning Hybrids (Various models)

Hoyt-Bedford Speakers

Klipschorn and La Scala (All Versions)

Living Voice OBX-R2 (UK)

Omega Speaker Systems

Pi Speakers (Various Models)

Prometheus II

RL Acoustique Lamhorn 1.8 (Montreal, Canada)

Sonist Concerto 2

Sunlight Engineering 308

Supravox Open Baffle

Teresonic (Various Models)

Tonian Acoustics (Various Models)

Vaughn Zinfandel

WLM (Various Models)

Zingali Horns

Zu Defintion

To which I would also add: Altec Model 19, VOTT plus various other Altec models from the 1950's to 1980's, Vitavox corner horns, EV Sentry III and EV Patrician (various versions) to the list. There are a few JBL 44xx and 43xx models that would be fine with low powered valve amps too, plus a few more that would fine with 35w valve amps.

Many of these are genuinely good speakers and would sound great with solid state or valve push pull amplification.

There are low powered valve amp and speaker combinations that sound great with rough music like Alien Sex Fiend. The trick is to find a combination with good bass - which can be the Achilles Heel of high efficiency speakers and valve amps.

It actually was very very interesting. Not very long listening session as Roby came late :roll: and the guy had another demo after.

We had opportunity to have a back to back comparison between kef ref and cabasse...and to our surprise the cabasse was better almost every time. Cabasse is a semi active with bass compartment driven by a dedicated 450w amplifier. The cabasse was more room filling and had a more upfront presentation without becoming too bright or fatiguing. Both are very transparent speakers with the cabasse being slightly faster then the kef. Amplifier was a plinths sa103 and audio lab as cd player.

The size of the cabasse might be the downside as I think these speakers really need bigger space to offer their full potential.

We decided to come back one day with our respective amplifiers to see how both these speakers will perform in a longer listening session. The hunt is starting...the update will probably be happening beginning of 2013...will be fun!

I have to congratulate you both on coming up with truly inovative speakers.

I was poking around the Cabasse website this morning, and found a link to an excellent Hifi+ review. The fact that it has a 450W digital amp driving the bass has 2 advantages:

- The bass can be altered by +/- 6dBs, thus allowing them to be tailored to individual rooms.

- But the biggest advantage for you, is that they have a sensitivity of 91.5 dB, and Hifi+'s far field in room tecnnique, measured it at an incredible 95 dB!!

Hifi+ describe them as quite laid back, while also being very dynamic. They have great timing, with a quick, agile bass that rolls off steeply at 30 Hz. Their transparancy is such that they will highlight the system driving them, and the reviewers could clearly tell the difference between the Vertex AQ, Naim NAC A5 and Chord Signature cables that were used.

You have now come up with a pair of speakers that answer all my reservations about your tube amp's compatability. The 3SAs have the sensitivity of a horn design, incorporate their own powerful amp to look after the bass, and will take on the magnificent mid-range of the Jadis (while answering its possible weakness). Now it's just the small matter of £11k.

I can believe that they sounded better than the Refs, but pricewise, they are more in line with the 207/2s, though saying that, you haven't heard the 205/2s with the 35i yet!!!

"We should no more let numbers define audio quality than we should let chemical analysis be the arbiter of fine wines." Nelson Pass

Yes indeed they have a selector to increase/decrease the amount of bass you want. The difference of sensitivity with the kef was evident as we had to decrease the volume of a notch every time we were swapping speakers.

Regarding the comparison, I never said it was a fair one :). Indeed the Cabasse would compete with the 207/2 as also the price suggests. Unfortunately they were not available.

I agree regarding being laid back if compared to other speakers we heard, my observation was strictly limited to the kef vs Cabasse where we found the French ones to be slighty more on the front compared to the kef being more laid back. Would you agree with this statement regarding the kef? I was very impress by the lower frequencies of the kef, very deep and enjoyable.

Now yes, there would be the price problem,but you never know these days we could find a deal quite easily if we start look around a bit. Thanks a lot for the review, I will read it attentively and come back with my thoughts on that. Very curios to see what Rob thinks as he was also very impressed.

I agree regarding being laid back if compared to other speakers we heard, my observation was strictly limited to the kef vs Cabasse where we found the French ones to be slighty more on the front compared to the kef being more laid back. Would you agree with this statement regarding the kef? I was very impress by the lower frequencies of the kef, very deep and enjoyable.

Hmmm!

I would not decribe the Kefs as "laid back"....but then, I suppose it depends on what you are comparing them to....and also what's driving them.

Compared to Spendor and Sonus Faber they are lively; but put Focal, Monitor Audio or Triangle into the mix, and they sound a little less forward in comparison.

If you connected the Jadis to the 205/2s, they would sound a little creamy and laid back; but connect them to a heavy-weight Bryston, and they will feel incredibly dynamic and punchy, but far more neutral....and you would lose the euphonious mid-range that you so love.

I suspect that the Cabasse sounded more forward because it has 450W punching out, and controlling the bass, and possibly the tweeter is a touch livelier,; or their more sensitive nature causes this. Either way, if both you and Rob liked them, they must have been both lively, detailed and sweet.

I suspect that they will be a great match for the Jadis (as stated in a previous post)....and that you will get your socks blown off when you get to hear them together.

I also believe you will get your eyes opened when you get to hear an all Audio Note system. It looks as if it was knocked up by a DIY fanatic, with more entusiasm than talent, in his man-shed.......using technology that even Noah would have rejected for the Ark's fidelity system!....but don't let that fool you, as imo, it's some of the best sounding stuff on the planet!

Bear in mind that speakers like these change completely, depending on what's driving them....but the Refs even more so, as they don't have a dedicated 450W power amp controlling the bass.

"We should no more let numbers define audio quality than we should let chemical analysis be the arbiter of fine wines." Nelson Pass